Wednesday, August 01, 2007

I Heart Da Chi

In between all of the partying, posing, and boob-grabbing I did manage to see a little bit of Chicago. What a wonderful city. The waterfront is magnificent—this is what Toronto should strive for.

The walk from the W down the Magnificent Mile to the Art Institute was fab. There is so much outdoor art and the parks and planters were lush with gorgeous plants and flowers. The Art Institute, which houses what’s considered the best Impressionist collection outside of Paris, is free Thursday evenings. There were children taking an art class in the building (I resisted the urge to photograph them). I didn’t resist the urge to buy Cakes a souvenir book from the gallery gift shop.

Sunday morning Redneck Mommy and I did an architecture river tour. It was fantastic. As we sipped lemonade the guide discussed the various types of architecture (there are so many examples in Chicago!) as well as a little bit of the city’s history. The architecture is breathtaking…

Please forgive my shitty camera. If you’re a photographer, this city’s for you.

I feel like there’s so much I missed: the theatre, the music scene, the aquarium. I’ll definitely be back with Cakes and McHotty one day. It seems to be a very family-friendly city—very walkable, and lots of attractions that would appeal to kids.

19 Comments:

That boat tour sounds great.The Detroit Art institute also has lots of impressionist art bought up by the Industrial Barrons wives. It seems obvious now but I had no idea until I saw both Chicago and Detroit's Art Institutes. We were supposed to do a family trip to Chicago in April. You are making me ever more sad that we didn't get to go.Our friends are moving there so maybe we can go soon.

me and vw were there a few years ago for work, and I was also impressed. I thought there was a lot that t-dot could learn from chicago. one of the things that really struck me were the multi-window newspaper boxes - so much nicer than our myriad of ratty single boxes all over the place. also, the boulevards, wide sidewalks and planters, planters, everywhere. makes a huge difference.

of course, then we got our car towed and ended up in a cage in the ghetto and I yearned for boring home.

I have yet to go to Chicago, but everytime my husband goes on business he comes back singing the city's praises.

Seriously, where is our city at when we keep making the waterfront viable only for the super-wealthy who can afford the ridiculous numbers of ticky-tacky condos proliferating upon its shores? (Apologies to those living in the ticky-tacky condos...)